Early in 1939, as Ford and Ferguson rolled out the first 9N tractors, a tooling delay prevented Ford from having several of the stamped-steel components available for the assembly line. As a result, the first production run of about 700 9N tractors featured aluminum hoods, timing covers, steering columns, grilles and several other parts, which were then painted gray like the rest of the tractor before being sold. As these tractors continued their working life on the farm, many of the aluminum components became dented or mangled and by then, replacements were available from Ford parts suppliers. Replacement parts in steel, that is. This makes a surviving aluminum 9N even more rare than its original 700-unit production run. As these original unmolested units were purchased or later restored, many owners decided to leave these aluminum parts unpainted and instead polished the grille by itself or all of the aluminum components to a high shine.

One of these originals will be featured in Mecum’s Gone Farmin’ Auction next month in Walworth, Wisconsin. Speculation has been made that less than 35 of these original tractors remain intact. The featured 9N, serial number 528, still sports its original hood, grille and side panels as well as the standard for 1939 accessories, one-piece rear wheels, Ferguson three-point hitch and working rear PTO.

Other tractors of note at the sale include a 1948 Simpson Jumbo with a Chrysler six-cylinder industrial engine, a rear-engined Allis-Chalmers model G, a 1930 4WD Massey-Harris general purpose tractor, and a pair of Silver King tractors – one a 1936 Orchard and the other a 1948 Model 42. More than 100 units will be sold in total, with John Deere tractors liberally represented.

Mecum’s Gone Farmin’ auction will take place August 3-4. For more information, visit Mecum.com.

Wow! It makes a 9N look like a Silver King [never did like that grey paint job - didn't do justice to his historically important tractor]. Would LOVE to have an aluminum hood on our TO20.

Just one question, though [if anyone out there can answer this]. The grille on the 9N depicted looks identical to our TO20, so –
1. When did they go over from a horizontally-finned to a vertically-finned grille, and
2. When did they go over from “greys” to “redbellies”?

[Wish I could make it up to the auction, tho our old TO20 does the job just fine around here; Harry Ferguson was an outstanding designer]

1. On the 9N, grilles had horizontal bars in the aluminum only. All steel grilles had vertical bars.
2. 9N (released in 1939) and 2N (released 1942) tractors were nearly identical including gray paint. 8n tractors (debuted in 1948) had red castings.
I regret selling my 9N every time I walk into the barn.

redbelly tractors were not offered until the ’48 8N (July of ’47) although many earlier tractors are painted in that scheme today.
The Ferguson grille was always different from the 9N, horizontal as opposed to vertical. Not sure if they interchange as a complete unit but it sure looks like they do.
The Ferguson story is pretty interesting in itself. Ford really took him to the cleaners with their original handshake agreement. Many years in the courts over copyright infringement when Ford dropped the Ferguson design in ’53. M-F followed shortly thereafter.

The horizontal bar grilles were more or less phased out when the change over to steel took place. Some 9N and 2N grilles features “slotted” center bars like the later 8Ns, some didn’t.

As for Harry Ferguson being taken to the cleaners, it’s been stated more than once that Ford Motor Co. lost money on every 9N and 2N it built. In his book “Vintage Ford Tractors,” Ford tractor historian Robert N. Pripps quotes Henry Ford II as saying, “The blunt truth is the Ford-Ferguson deal made Harry Ferguson a multimillionaire and cost Ford $25 million.”